"Focus…"
His voice cut through the chaos barely, but enough. He clenched his hand. Reality paused: single point of control.
He anchored himself not in power, but in identity. Ethan, husband, father, emperor. The one who chose, not the one who drifted, not the one who consumed everything.
"I decide…"
The chaos slowed slightly.
"I define…"
The expansion halted, not completely, but enough.
"I am Origin."
The words settled, heavy, and absolute. The Fifth Ascension didn't reject him. It accepted him, but not fully. Not yet. His body stabilized barely. Cracks of light still ran across his form, his aura still unstable, his power still far beyond what he had intended to reach, but he remained standing, floating, existing, and breathing.
Ethan exhaled slowly.
"That was reckless."
Silence followed.
Then a faint smile bloomed on his face.
"Again."
